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1. Introduction
In 1995, Joanne Ciulla, a leadership and ethics professor at the Jepson School of Leadership Studies at the University of Richmond, published a research paper on the comprehensive review of leadership, which argued that academics, instead of searching for a response to the question “What is leadership?”, should ask themselves: “What is good leadership?”, as it is urgent to consider both the ethics and skills of a leader (Giampetro-Meyer et al., 1998). In this study, Ciulla (1995) suggested that normative theories about leadership require further analysis in terms of ethical theories, as well as more empirical studies that demonstrate the relationship between ethics and leadership. Belfanti (2017) proposed that “leadership was adopted as a strategic priority to drive the necessary cultural change” (p. 436). For that reason, since the proposal made by Burns (1978) about leadership, numerous studies have argued the positive results that come along with implementing transformational leadership styles in organizations and have aimed to study the differences that occur in these outcomes when using a transactional or passive-avoidant leadership styles. However, despite the already large number of scandals in government and in the business world, there are few studies that examine issues related to ethics and morality in leadership (Groves & LaRocca, 2011), and most of them have been normative proposals that require verification via empirical research.
The problem is not rare for the public sector; in fact, every day brings its share of news about non-ethical practices in the administration of national, regional, and local governments, in all latitudes and dimensions, although both society and academia claim that leaders, and especially the ones from the public sector, should have high moral standards. Although Moslehpour et al. (2019) proposed that leadership style has a direct and positive relationship with the organizational climate and, at the same time, that the latter influences work style and has a positive effect on job satisfaction in public administration, Kernaghan (2003) stated that “the successful integration of values into public service requires values-centered leadership” (p. 28). In this sense, Arboleda and Arboleda (2017) proposed that the exercise of public administration and, specifically, municipal mayors, should be developed according to ethical principles and virtue, with behaviors approved by society, which reinforce the argument that responsibility consists of defending the interests of citizens through public policies that seek to improve the quality of life and a performance based on ethics. With regard to the reforms proposed for the implementation of a new public administration, it becomes important to understand how leadership brings value to recognize the ethics of the public leaders to have the inspiration to serve (Battaglio & Gelgec, 2017; Mavhungu & Bussin, 2017; Pasha et al., 2017).
1.1 Hypothesis
From the normative perspective, some publications have suggested that transformational leadership “accounts the cost and benefits to all stakeholders, the application of distributive justice, and universal moral principles” (Peterson, 2001, cited by Bass & Bass, 2008, p. 218), which are indicators of an idealistic ethics position. Meanwhile, transactional leadership is directly associated with the exchange between leader and follower while reaching independent objectives, where “the individual interests of person or groups going their separate ways” (Burns, 1978, p. 435) is the main characteristic of the relativistic ethics position. However, more empirical evidence is needed to prove the existence of these relationships (Ciulla, 1995; Groves & LaRocca, 2011; Simola et al., 2010). According to Nielsen (1989), leaders serve as models for organization subordinates when it comes to ethically appropriate behaviors and the way they respond to ethical dilemmas or problems. Additionally, managers’ leadership styles serve to communicate and display the values that ensure an ethical orientation in the organization (Hood, 2003). Therefore, a manager’s ethical orientation, in terms of features and behaviors, is the key factor for promoting an ethical behavior in an organization, and for the creation of an organizational ethical culture (Blome et al., 2017).
On the other hand, Forsyth (1980) argued that the ethics position of individuals is determined by their moral philosophy. In fact, Malagueño et al. (2020) found a direct and significant relationship between ethical ideologies and ethical behavioral intentions. Ethics position is established considering two categories: idealism and relativism. Those who are idealists truly believe that good actions always get the desired results and benefit the entire society, while relativists employ moral principles as guides to determine right from wrong and evaluate actions from their moral judgments and personal interests (Forsyth et al., 2008). According to that, the following hypothesis is proposed:
H 1: There is a relationship between leaders’ ethical positions and their leadership style in a mayor’s office.
1.2 Definition of terms
Relativism “represents the extent to which the individual rejects universal moral rules” (Redfern & Crawford, 2004, p. 199) because “individuals differ in their acceptance of universal ethical absolutes” (Forsyth & Nye, 1990, p. 399). Relativistic individuals “generally feel that moral actions depend upon the nature of the situation and the individuals involved, and when judging others, they weight the circumstances more than the ethical principle that was violated” (Forsyth, 1992, p. 462).
Idealism focuses on the “evaluation of actions and consequences” (Forsyth & Berger, 1982, p. 53). Forsyth, consequently, proposes that “some individuals idealistically assume that desirable consequences can, with the ‘right’ action, always be obtained. Those with a less idealistic orientation, on the other hand, admit that undesirable consequences will often be mixed in with desired ones” (1980, p. 176).
Transformational leadership was defined by Yukl (1989) as “the process of influencing major changes in the attitudes and assumptions of organization members and building commitment for the organization’s mission, objectives, and strategies” (p. 269). This model of leadership is directly related to positive workplace behavior (Shaya & Khait, 2017), job performance (Rowold et al., 2014; Shaya & Khait, 2017), green supplier championing and ethical outcomes in organizations (Varghese et al., 2017), encouragement of employees to express their ideas (Akbari et al., 2017), improved general wellbeing, human capital creation (Z˘i˘zek, Mulej, & C˘ an˘cer, 2017; Z˘i˘zek, Mulej, & C˘ i˘c, 2017), sustainable leadership behavior (Ng & Burke, 2010), corporate social responsibility (Alonso-Almeida et al., 2017), and sense of purpose and mission (Hermans, 2021).
Transformational leaders integrate “idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation, and individualized consideration” (Bass & Avolio, 1993, p. 112). Groves and LaRocca, as well, indicate that “transformational leaders influence followers and drive organizational change by promoting process values such as honesty, loyalty, and fairness, while emphasizing the end values of justice, equality, and human rights” (Groves & LaRocca, 2011, p. 514). Furthermore, D’Alessio proposes some characteristics of a leader:
Idealized influence (attribute - IIA and behavior - IIB), refers to leaders who have high standars of moral and ethical conduct, who are held in high personal regard, and who engender loyalty from followers [. . . ] inspirational motivation - IM, refers to leaders with a strong vision for the future based on values and ideals. Leadership behaviors falling into this dimension include stimulating enthusiasm, bulding confidence, and inspiring followers by using symbolic actions and persuasive language. Idealized influence and inspirational motivation are highly correlated and are sometimes combined to form a measure of charisma [. . . ] intellectual stimulation - IS refers to leaders who challenge organizational norms, who encourage divergent thinking, and who push followers to develop innovative strategies. Individual consideration - IC [. . . ] refers to leadership behaviors that are aimed at recognizing the unique growth and developmental needs of followers as well as coaching followers and consulting with them. (D’Alessio, 2008, p. 15)
Transactional leadership “refers to the exchange relationship between leader and follower to meet their own selfinterest” (Bass, 1999, pp. 10-11). It is composed by “contingent reward and management by exception. The latter factor was subsequently divided into active management by exception and part of passive leadership and laissezfaire - LF, the avoidance of leadership’’ (Bass & Bass, 2008, p. 623. Yahaya and Ebrahim also suggest that:
Contingent reward CR is based on the agreement between leaders and followers on the performance of objectives and standards to be accomplished. Transactional leaders set the promise to provide suitable rewards if subordinates achieve their assigned tasks. Active management by exception - MBEA denotes to a leader who sets objectives and performance standards, actively monitors employee’s jobs to look for errors and deviations [. . . ] leaders systematically monitor employee performance and intervene when mistakes or problems occur. Leaders actively search for problems and correct errors as they are detected. (Yahaya & Ebrahim, 2016, pp. 191-192)
Passive-Avoidant “tends to react only after problems have become serious to take corrective action, and often avoids making any decisions at all” (Avolio et al., 1999, p. 445). Passive Management-by-exception and LF -MBEP and laissez-faire- are part of the passiveavoidant leadership style (Hartog et al., 1997). Passive management by exception “is a less active version of management-by-exception in which leaders take a passive approach, intervening only when problems become serious” (D’Alessio, 2008, p. 14). Laissez faire refers to a “leader [that] avoids decision making and supervisory responsibility” (Hartog et al., 1997, p. 21).
2. Method
This study is classified as basic research with deductive approach, non-experimental design, quantitative nature, cross-sectional, and correlational scope, that seeks to describe the reality of the relationship between the ethics positions and leadership styles in a Mayors’ office, from data obtained through instruments of high validity in measuring research variables. Questionnaires used closed questions and scales. The survey results were analyzed statistically in order to test the hypothesis. This investigation was done through a sample of 230 leaders related to the public municipality of Medellín, capital Antioquia, and Colombia’s second most populated city. The sampling was carried out randomly and participants of the study were invited to do it voluntarily. The answers to the questionnaires were collected using paper and pencil at the mayor’s office’s facilities, the sample were random, and tests were performed in order to verify the data bias.
2.1 Instruments
2.1.1 Ethics Position Questionnaire EPQ
Developed by Forsyth (1980), it measures the degree of ethical ideology in two dimensions: idealism and relativism (Forsyth, 1980). This questionnaire has two scales, each of ten items: the first one is designed to measure the acceptance of moral absolutes (idealism), while the second scale is designed to measure non acceptance of individual moral principles (relativism). In its original version, the EPQ measured the dimensions using a 9-point scale, from disagreement (1) to agreement (9). The internal consistency coefficients of the idealism and relativism scales, as assessed by Cronbach’s alpha, range from .73 to .84, and test-retest reliabilities were .67 and .66, respectively (Forsyth, 1980). Forsyth (1980) also found that the two scales were orthogonal to one another and were only slightly correlated with social desirability.
The author granted direct permission to use the scale. To use this instrument a retro-translation was performed and a pilot test was carried out in which 139 final-year students from the Business Administration and Public Accounting undergraduate programs participated voluntarily. The software IBM SPSS statistics 24 was used to perform an analysis of reliability of the ethical position instrument, as well as the idealism and relativism factors that compose it, obtaining results of .767 and .791, respectively.
2.1.2 Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire - MLQ
The MLQ has 45 items in a Likert scale questionnaire, in which each participant answers the questions independently. Antonakis et al. (2003) examined the MLQ (form 5X) to be used in the present study and concluded that it “is a valid and reliable instrument that can adequately measure the nine components comprising the full-range theory of leadership” (p. 286), and the results of the two studies conducted by them “indicated strong and consistent evidence that the nine-factor model best represented the factor structure underlying the MLQ (Form 5X) instrument” (p. 283). As the Leadership Style is going to be measured from leaders, the MLQ is going to be applied in the self-form. The license to reproduce in the Spanish language was acquired from Mindgarden, a company with the commercial representation of the instrument by the authors. After purchasing the license of the MLQ form 5X in its official version in Spanish from the firm Mindgarden, a pilot test was carried out, using data from 220 leaders from different organizations from the city of Medellín who participated voluntarily, which allowed to determine the reliability of the leadership styles scale, obtaining an alpha of .739 with the 36 items of the scale that measure the nine dimensions of leadership styles.
3. Results
The data for the current research was collected through a random sampling of 230 leaders from different areas of Medellín Mayor’s Office; they received the corresponding survey and the informed consent. Out of the people contacted, 219 followed the given instructions and voluntarily filled out the forms, which means that 95% of the receivers accepted the invitation. From the 219 data collected, 216 had the conditions to be used in the statistical analysis. The average age among participants was 48 years, with a maximum of 66 and a minimum of 27, in which 51.4% (111) were men and 48.6 % (105) women. From the sample of 216, regarding their highest level of studies, one reported having only graduated from high-school, 15 from undergraduate degrees, 152 from specializations, 43 from master’s programs, 1 receiving a doctorate, and 4 did not report. In terms of study areas, 46 of the 216 reported having a background in engineering, 68 in administrative and economic areas, 33 in social and human sciences, 12 in health, 45 in law and political science, 3 in arts and music, 4 in other areas and 5 did not report. The average work experience at the time of the application of the instrument was 23 years, with a maximum of 45 years and a minimum of 6. In terms of the time worked in Medellín Mayor’s Office, the average was 12 years, with a maximum of 38 years, and one participant reported working there for less than a year. Table 1 shows the averages, standard deviation, and maximum and minimum values of the results of idealism, relativism based on the answers to the EPQ questionnaire, and each of the factors associated with the leadership styles measured from the MLQ scale.
A data analysis using the Structural Equations Model (SEM) was carried out with the IBM SPSS Statistics 24 and AMOS 24 software. It was necessary to perform a confirmatory factor analysis prior to the construction of the SEM model. Additionally, the MLQ test pilot and the data obtained allowed the construction of two alternative models. One of them to determine a direct relationship between idealism, relativism, and each second order factor, and a third alternative model to test the relationship between idealism and relativism on each of the leadership styles observed in a local government.
In the exploratory data analysis, simple frequencies were performed to identify lost values and/or typing errors. The scales used for forming the latent variables for ethical position, idealism, and relativism go from 1 to 9, and it is unusual to find atypical values in that range. For the latent variable “leadership style”, the scales went from 0 to 4, where there is definitely no such data. As a result, no difficulties were found in the database.
The measurement model for the Ethical Position was constructed using the development of this variable, composed of idealism and relativism. It was obtained in the goodness of fit indicators, Comparative Fit Index -CFI and Tucker-Lewis Index- TLI, which obtained values of .953 and .924, respectively, exceeding the thresholds of .90 suggested in the literature (Hair et al., 2010). Also, the Root Mean Square Error of Approximation -RMSEA- obtained a value of .061, which is considered satisfactory. The most relevant indicator, in terms of convergent validity, is Composite Reliability -CR-, which fulfills both idealism (.761) and relativism (.804). The AVE values, both for idealism and for relativism, exceed the .4 value, considered in the present study as adequate for reliability and validity, as it was postulated by Malhotra (2010) when convergent validity is achieved by composite reliability. Finally, it was found that the square root of the AVE for idealism is .675, which is higher than the correlation between idealism and relativism (.022). Therefore, it is possible to conclude that the defined measurement model is adequate both for the reliability and for the discriminant validity of the EPQ.
Table 1 Descriptive Analysis
| Average | Standard deviation | Maximum | Minimum | N.◦ of analysis | |
| Idealism | 7.73 | .88 | 9.00 | 3.00 | 216 |
| Relativism | 3.69 | 1.80 | 9.00 | 1.00 | 216 |
| Idealized influence attributes | 2.77 | .80 | 4.00 | .25 | 216 |
| Idealized Influence Behavior | 3.27 | .50 | 4.00 | 1.75 | 216 |
| Inspirational Motivation | 3.66 | .46 | 4.00 | 2.25 | 216 |
| Intellectual Stimulation | 3.20 | .62 | 4.00 | 1.00 | 216 |
| Individual consideration | 3.47 | .52 | 4.00 | 1.75 | 216 |
| Contingent Reward | 3.01 | .66 | 4.00 | 1.25 | 216 |
| Active Management by Exception | 1.80 | 1.05 | 4.00 | .00 | 216 |
| Passive Management by Exception | .42 | .56 | 4.00 | .00 | 216 |
| Laissez Faire | .79 | .55 | 3.50 | .00 | 216 |
3.1 SEM with AMOS Construction Model
A reflective model was constructed in relation to the proposed theoretical framework, where the observable variables are influenced by the corresponding latent variable or factor (see Figure 1). This type of model is based on the variances and covariances structure, and its fundamental interest is to identify relationships and to confirm hypotheses. The structure model, theoretically considered and then adjusted to the already validated measurement model and leadership styles, is presented in Figure 1.
The data showed that there are 149 degrees of freedom satisfying the condition of an identified model (see Table 2), the Parsimony Goodness-of-Fit Index, PGFI, obtained a .777 value, which, according to Escobedo et al. (2016), represents an adequate model adjustment, given that parsimony indexes must be greater than .5. The indices were delivered following the ULS procedure: all of the incremental or comparative adjustment indexes exceed the threshold of .90, the RFI obtained a value of .979, the NFI measured .982, and the AGFI .989. The Root Mean Squared Residual -RMR- is a standardized global indicator that refers to residuals, and it was calculated as .082 after using an AMOS program plugin, where .1 is considered the upper limit for this indicator (Uriel & Aldás, 2005). The GFI was measured as .991, an adequate value for this model. All the above leads to conclude that the different indicators comply that the model has a good fit, and an analysis of the factorial loads to validate the hypothesis of this research can be seen as prudent and useful (see Table 3).
3.2 Parameters Estimation
The values of the unknown, non-standardized, and the standardized parameters are estimated, as well as the endogenous variable coefficient of determination, R2, giving results that lay between the exogenous latent variables and their corresponding endogenous version. It is useful to remember that the coefficients must be between -1 and 1, and that the sign indicates an inverse or direct relationship. For the data analyzed, Table 4 shows that the ethical position presents a median load, with respect to leadership styles, with a value of .375; in other words, it means that the ethical position has a direct relationship with the leadership styles in a municipal mayor’s office.
With respect to the coefficients of determination (R 2) shown in Table 5, it can be observed that the model estimates the styles of leadership variable as 14.10 %, which provides a moderate and useful explanation. To identify statistical significance, P values were calculated using the Maximum Likelihood, MLS procedure, considering that the estimators had no relevant changes with respect to the ULS procedure. It is useful to mention that the value of estimate (=1) indicates that this restriction was ordered to achieve an identified model, resulting in a viable mathematical solution. The results presented in Table 6 confirm that the ethical position is related to the leadership style, which can be deduced by observing that the value of P is equal to .045, a value lower than .05. As a result, the numbers obtained are statistically significant.
After determining the type of relationships that can be established, the non-standardized estimators are found between the endogenous and their corresponding exogenous variables. These estimators are shown along with the standard errors, the critical region, and the P values. In the present study, the criterion to define the statistically significant relationship is presented if the P value is less than .05, and when the result is presented with it indicates that the values are less than .001. Table 7 shows that the idealism and relativism indicators are statistically significant, being consistent with what was found in the AFC. With respect to the relevant study variables (leadership styles), it was found that only a LF with a P value of .221 was not significant, which is coherent with the theoretical proposal, since this dimension or style is defined as non-leadership. In addition, MBEP was significant at 90 %, since the P value was .07, slightly greater than .05.
4. Hypothesis validation
It is important to keep in mind several aspects while verifying the hypothesis of this study, which are the statistical significance based on the P values from Table 7, the standardized charges, and the R 2 value (coefficient of determination). Considering the above, it is possible to validate the research hypothesis that there is a relationship between the leaders’ ethical positions and their leadership style in a mayor’s office.
It is found an estimate of .160 and a standard error of .080, which led to a critical region (.160/0.0.08 = 2.004), a value greater than 1.96, which is the limit to accept the significance of the estimator. This leads to confirm the hypothesis that the ethical position positively influences leadership styles. On the other hand, the SEM model confirms that there is a direct and positive relationship between the ethical position and the leadership style (38 %), and the R 2 (.141) indicates that leadership styles are being explained by the model by 14.1%.
In other words, the results obtained demonstrate the existence of a direct and positive relationship between the ethical position and the styles of leadership, which confirms what is proposed by the transformational leadership theory (Burns, 1978) and the postulates that in relation to it have been formulated by Aronson (2009), B. Bass and Steidlmeier (1999), GiampetroMeyer1998, Kanungo (2001), Mendonca (2001), and Treviño et al. (2006).
Table 3 SEM Goodness of Fit Measures for the ULS Procedure
| Goodness of fit measure | Acceptable adjustment levels | Acceptability obtained | Decision |
|---|---|---|---|
| Absolute adjustment measures | |||
| Goodness of fit index (GFI) | 0 bad adjustment; 1.0 perfect fit | .991 | Suitable |
| Standardized RMR | .082 | Suitable | |
| Incremental or comparative adjustment measures | |||
| Normed Fit Index (NFI) | .982 | Suitable | |
| (AGFI) | >.90 | .989 | Suitable |
| (RFI) | .979 | Suitable | |
| Parsimony Adjustment Measures | |||
| Parsimony Goodness of fit Index (PGFI) | Values greater than .5 | .777 | Suitable |
Table 4 Standardized Loads Between Endogenous and Exogenous Latent Variables
| Relationships | Estimates |
|---|---|
| Leadership_Styles←Ethics_Positions | .375 |
5. Conclusion
The results obtained in this study help us to conclude that the ethical position of the leaders from a municipal mayor’s office has a significant and positive relationship with their leadership styles. That is, the differences between their personal ethical principles when making moral judgments and the way they responded to certain situations influence the behaviors exhibited by leaders in a local government administration. This finding makes it feasible to propose new empirical evidence from the application of valid and reliable instruments, in addition to the theoretical postulates that define a direct relationship between ethics and leadership in a context of local government administration, such as those proposed by Burns (1978). Ciulla (1995) highlighted the need to reflect on a proper leadership that leads to the fulfillment of the proposed goals under high ethical standards and morals. Moreover, Giampetro-Meyer et al. (1998) requested empirical research to determine the existence of this relationship in different contexts.
Kanungo (2001) postulated the relationship between deontology, teleology, transformational styles and transactional styles. Groves and LaRocca (2011) determined a relationship between transformational leadership and deontology with transactional leadership and teleology. Aronson (2009) proposed a relationship between deontology and transformational leadership. Finally, Brown et al. (2005) argued on the existence of an ethical leadership that exhibits both behavioral and transformational styles as transactional leadership.
6. Implications
“Leadership styles and management behaviors continue to be critical elements in understanding individuals’ actions as well as organizational outcomes” (Jacobson et al., 2010, p. 499), thus studying the relationship between ethical positions and leadership styles in a municipal mayor’s office will allow adding value to academic approaches on the best way to achieve the higher purpose within the framework of the new models of public administration, where, according to Jreisat (2018), it is necessary to develop organizational leaders with ethical skills. The present study adds empirical evidence that supports the theoretical postulates on the relationship between ethics (ethical position) and leadership styles from the full-range model, in the context of a municipal mayor’s office. One of the greatest needs in this field is to validate the prescriptive proposals under real scenarios and contexts.
The results obtained allow us to advance in the analysis of the relationship between these two variables and the factors that compose them. Therefore, this study becomes a starting point to analyze in greater depth the relationship between those ethical positions with each of the second order factors associated with leadership styles, as well as with each of the leadership styles of full range theory. On the other hand, the results allowed us to approach the theoretical proposal on ethical leadership with transactional and transformational behaviors, which suggests the development of future research on the relationship between the ethical leadership construct and the constructs of idealism and relativism. At the same time, research is suggested to determine if there is coherence between the ethical position of leaders and followers and how people who exercise a certain style of leadership influence the ethical positions of their followers. The empirical demonstration on the influence of the ethical position on the leadership styles in a Municipal City Hall proposes a reflection on the organizational leadership created in this type of institutions. In other words, it means that during the leadership development training at a local government, issues related to the understanding of ethics, moral judgments, and their impacts on society should be addressed, as they highlight the need for the public sector, in countries such as Brazil where tax evasion is rampant, to be pro-active in dealing with ethical issues and to adopt an early warning system through the constant training of public servants who are susceptible to making poor ethical judgments.
Table 6 Non-standardized Coefficients and their Statistical Significance for Endogenous Latent Variables
| Relationships | Estimates | S.E. | C.R. | P |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leadership_Styles Ethics_Positions | 160 | .080 | 2.004 | .045 |
Note: S.E.=Standard Error; C.R.=Critical Region; P=P value
Table 7 Non-standardized Coefficients and their Statistical Significance for the Leadership Styles Observable Variables
| Estimate | S.E. | C.R. | P | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Idealism 5 | ← | Idealism | 1.051 | .184 | 5.699 | ∗ ∗ ∗ |
| Idealism 2 | ← | Idealism | 2.205 | 368 | 5.996 | ∗ ∗ ∗ |
| Idealism 1 | ← | Idealism | 1.252 | .217 | 5.764 | ∗ ∗ ∗ |
| Relativism 10 | ← | Relativism | 1.000 | |||
| Relativism 7 | ← | Relativism | .828 | 170 | 4.885 | ∗ ∗ ∗ |
| Relativism 6 | ← | Relativism | 1.790 | .283 | 6.334 | ∗ ∗ ∗ |
| Relativism 5 | ← | Relativism | 1.430 | .244 | 5.858 | ∗ ∗ ∗ |
| Relativism 4 | ← | Relativism | 1.470 | .257 | 5.723 | ∗ ∗ ∗ |
| Relativism 3 | ← | Relativism | 2.103 | .322 | 6.534 | ∗ ∗ ∗ |
| Idealism 6 | ← | Idealism | 1.000 | |||
| Idealized Influence Attributes | ← | Leadership_Styles | 1.928 | .747 | 2.580 | .010 |
| Idealized Influence Behaviors | ← | Leadership_Styles | 1.249 | .482 | 2.590 | .010 |
| Inspirational Motivation | ← | Leadership_Styles | 1.477 | 556 | 2.656 | .008 |
| Intellectual Stimulation | ← | Leadership_Styles | 1.284 | .511 | 2.515 | .012 |
| Individual Consideration | ← | Leadership_Styles | 1.297 | .501 | 2.590 | .010 |
| Active Management by Exception | ← | Leadership_Styles | 1.000 | |||
| Contingent Reward | ← | Leadership_Styles | 1.518 | 592 | 2.562 | .010 |
| Passive Management by Exception | ← | Leadership_Styles | - 471 | 260 | -1.811 | .070 |
| Laissez Faire | ← | Leadership_Styles | -.265 | .217 | -1.224 | .221 |
Note: S.E.=Standard Error; C.R.=Critical Region; P=P value; ∗ ∗ ∗p < .001
7. Recommendations
The implementation of qualitative methodologies at a municipal mayor’s office would make it possible to understand why the ethical position influences leadership styles and how behaviors associated with leadership styles appear within the organization, and their effects on the followers. Currently, scholars require research that integrates variable models to determine leadership styles, including the ethical position, a relationship that was clearly demonstrated in this work in the context of a municipal mayor’s office. Other variables could be personality, emotional intelligence, and critical thinking, according to D’Alessio’s (2010) proposal. On the other hand, the city of Medellín requires research to identify the leadership styles and ethical positions of other actors and leaders, from both social and private organizations, who are working together towards the city transformation, from being the most violent city in the world to one that exemplifies social, urban, and cultural innovation.
